SOCIETY'S MORAL BREAKDOWN (Judges 19:1-30)
INTRODUCTION:
When we were in London we went on a tour of the Tower of London. The tour guide was a Yeoman Warder who are the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London, they are also known more commonly as Beefeaters. The Tower of London was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952. The Beefeater who gave us our tour told some stories about different prisoners who had been kept in the prison. Most were not executed in the prison but in a public square where the citizens of London could witness the execution. He did tell us of several executions that did take place within the fortress of the prison and went into quite graphic detail in telling us of these horrific deaths.
This morning we turn back to the book of Judges and enter into the last three chapters of the book which gives us Israel’s lowest point in their descent into becoming like the Canaanites that they had not driven from the land. I believe these last three chapters of this book are the most horrific and at the same time the saddest commentary on what happens when we turn away from God to worship something or someone else. We see it in our own nation today. In chapters 17 and 18 we saw how idolatry had become the norm in the land as the sons of Israel continually did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and it is no accident, that the history of Israel’s idolatry is followed by the history of their immorality. Only God, the creator of the world and everything in it, including each one of us, has the absolute right to tell us how to live our lives. But once we displace Him, the Lawgiver and Judge of all the earth, from His rightful place in our lives and allow other things to take His place, we move away from the only One who can give moral stability to our lives. When we do this there is then no standard of truth, just “my truth” and “your truth.” No longer is there any right or wrong, just what seems right to me or what seems wrong to me, and we no longer have a common authority to appeal to when our preferences differ. Suddenly everyone does what is right in his own eyes and the result is moral chaos. Idolatry and immorality go hand in hand, where you have one, you also, sooner or later have the other. Our nation is the perfect example, our idols are not wood or stone, instead we worship ourselves and immorality has become common place in our society. Let’s pray and get into this chapter for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Judges 19 this morning. I am going to try to take this a chapter at a time. We will see how far we get this morning. Please, if you are able, stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along while I read.
Judges 19:1-30,
“Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. Then her husband arose and went after her to speak tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, ‘Sustain yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.’ So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, ‘Please be willing to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.’ Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. On the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, ‘Please sustain yourself, and wait until afternoon’; so both of them ate. When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, ‘Behold now, the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Lo, the day is coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go home.’ But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and departed and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and the servant said to his master, ‘Please come, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.’ However, his master said to him, ‘We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will go on as far as Gibeah.’ He said to his servant, ‘Come and let us approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.’ So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside there in order to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When they entered, they sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night. Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites. And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, ‘Where are you going, and where do you come from?’ He said to him, ‘We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to my house, and no man will take me into his house. Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, your maidservant, and the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.’ The old man said, ‘Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the open square.’ So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank. While they were celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations with him.’ Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, ‘No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.’ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight. When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up and let us go,’ but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his home. When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. All who saw it said, ‘Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel and speak up!’” (Judges 19:1–30, NASB95)[1]
MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN (Judges 19:1-2)
This chapter begins with that phrase that will become all too familiar in the last five chapters of this book. “Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel…” (Judges 19:1a, NASB95)[2] Because the sons of Israel do not acknowledge the LORD as their king, and they have forgotten to be faithful to God’s covenant with them, they lack a theological reason for not descending to the ethical level of the Canaanites around them at the personal, tribal and national level. As we will see they are no longer distinguishable from the people they were commanded to destroy, they have become just like them. There was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes, there was no absolute truth, just your truth and my truth. After introducing this new section, we are introduced to the main character, another Levite, from the tribe of Levi whose tribe was charged with the spiritual leadership of the nation. We read that he lived in a remote part or the hill country of Ephraim. This is near to where Micah lived but this man is not employed by Micah. We also learn in this first verse that he took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. Why a concubine and not a wife? Even though a wife is not mentioned it is implied that this unnamed Levite was already married, and he took a concubine as a second wife.
Concubines do not have the same status as a wife. They do not have the same privileges as a wife. Children born to them were considered illegitimate and could not inherit the father’s estate when he died unless he adopted them as his own children. We have already seen the problems that this can have in the case of Gideon whose son born of a concubine killed all of Gideon’s other sons and set himself up as king. Even though we see this practice taking place in Israel it was never condoned in Scripture and it was certainly not God’s plan for the family. God’s plan as outlined in our Scripture reading this morning was that one man and one woman would come together and be on flesh. We do not know how long this concubine was with the Levite but in verse two we are told that his concubine played the harlot against him. The ESV says that she was unfaithful to her husband, and this might be more correct because she is not described as leaving her husband for other men but went straight home to her father in Bethlehem in Judah and stayed there. It seems that her motive was to get away from a situation that she found to be intolerable. The harlotry mentioned in more metaphorical rather than literal, and her behavior reflects more badly on her husband than on herself. This concubine “played the harlot” because, wrong or right, she felt she had no alternative. This is not uncommon for women who find themselves in this type of situation when society has lost its way morally and where marriage no longer functions as it should, this Levite should not have taken a concubine. This woman may have not liked playing second fiddle to the Levite’s legitimate wife. She may have been treated badly by the wife and the Levite. Marriage breakdown, especially when it becomes common and widespread, is a telltale sign of a decaying society. This present passage is about one relationship breakdown, but it is given to us to give us a picture of what was happening in the nation.
MENDING THE RELATIONSHIP (Judges 19:3-9)
This woman remained at her father’s house for four months, long enough for both of them to reflect on what had happened. Verse three seems to indicate that this Levite was not completely callous and that he may have some redeeming qualities, he may have even come to see that he was at least partially responsible for what has happened, and he sets out for Bethlehem to get his concubine back. We are told he went to speak tenderly to her to bring her back, which shows that he intends to win her back with gentle persuasion rather than simply demanding that she return with him and that her father turn her over to him.
The way he is greeted on his arrival at the house of the concubine’s father suggests that both the concubine and her father are eager for reconciliation instead of confrontation. This father of the concubine shows us the hospitality that is famous in the land of Israel. He wines and dines his son-in-law for three days. On the fourth day the Levite gets up early to prepare to leave only to be detained again by his father-in-law’s hospitality. Rising early on the fifth morning the Levite again prepares to take his concubine and go back to his home in Ephraim. The girl’s father again prevails on him to stay and have something to eat before starting on his journey. It is interesting on this fifth day they are only said to eat, no drinking is mentioned. When the man arose from eating and again prepared to take his concubine and servant and go, his father-in-law again appealed to him to stay another night since it was already afternoon.
MOVING TOWARD HOME (Judges 19:10-21)
The Levite, however, was determined to go and set off in the afternoon with his two donkeys, his concubine, and his servant. They began their journey and when the day was nearly gone, they came near to Jerusalem, which at this time was called Jebus and inhabited by the Jebusites because the tribe of Benjamin did not drive them out. The Jebusites would remain in Jerusalem until David conquered it, drove them out, and made it the capital of Israel. The servant of the Levite suggested to his master that they turn aside and spend the night in Jerusalem since the day was almost gone. Now understand that they had just traveled 6 miles, the distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The Levite does not want to spend the night in a city inhabited by Jebusites, he wants to push on and stay in a city that is inhabited by Israelites, so suggests that they go on to Gibeah or Ramah and stay there. So, pressing on another 5-6 miles they come to the city of Gibeah as the sun is setting. They enter the city and stop at the city square waiting for someone to show them hospitality and invite them into their home for the night. This was possibly why the Levite did not want to stay in Jerusalem because they could not expect the hospitality of foreigners like they would receive from their own people. But this Levite was wrong, no one invited them in. They began to prepare to spend the night in the square when an old man came through the city gate, he had been working late in his fields and was now returning to his home. The author informs us that he is not a Benjamite but is actually from the hill country of Ephraim but at this time was staying in Gibeah. Seeing the Levite and his concubine and servant in the square he asks where they are going and where they are from. The Levite responds that they are traveling home to the hill country of Ephraim from Bethlehem in Judah. He goes on to explain that that no one invited them to stay in their house, but they had no need because they had food for the donkeys and food and drink for themselves. The old man extends to them the hospitality they were seeking by taking them into his home and feeding their donkeys, washing their feet, and giving them food and drink. This old man in taking them into his house told them that they were not to spend the night in the open square.
MORAL OUTRAGE (Judges 19:22-30)
Having moved from the square to the old man’s home they settle in for the evening. They are just beginning to enjoy the evening when there is a loud pounding at the door and loud shouting, and their quiet evening is about to turn into a nightmare. The description of the events in verses 22-26 are among the most disgusting and sickening in this book. This passage reads almost exactly like the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The men of the city have arrived, but it is not to extend hospitality. They demand the old man to send out the Levite that is in his house so that they can have sex with him. The author calls these Benjamites that have surrounded the house “worthless fellows” and they are bent on evil. Like the Sodom account the old man goes out to reason with the men and pleads with them not to act so wickedly as this man has come into the protection of his house, in other words, to do this would not only dishonor the Levite but would also bring disgrace on the host for allowing this to happen. But what he proposes is just as shocking as what the men of the city are demanding, and he shows by his proposal that he is just as perverted as the men outside his door. Doing what is right in his own eyes he offers them his own virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine as substitutes so that his guest will not be dishonored. He tells the mob that that can humiliate them and abuse them by doing what is right in their own eyes. Unlike the case with Lot, this man’s guest is not an angel that can protect him and his family by blinding the eyes of the mob. This man’s honor as a host is at stake—not justice or morality. That is why to him heterosexual rape is preferable to homosexual rape. The host cannot betray his obligations to his male guest. But is it only the host’s honor that is at stake? Notice that the men of Gibeah are only interested in the Levite, they are not interested in the host, or the Levite’s servant or concubine. The Levite alone is their target. As representatives of the moral state of Israel, these men of Gibeah demonstrate that they have no respect for Levites at all. Those set apart by God and ordained for divine service are desecrated by vile acts. To rape this Levite would not only be disgraceful, it would violate his honor.
The men of Gibeah did not accept the old man’s proposal, and the Levite seeing that things are going from bad to worse grabs his concubine and thrusts her out the door to the mob surrounding the house. After all the effort he put forth to bring his concubine home, he willingly offers her up to these worthless men, protecting himself and his host. By the time the concubine is thrust out to them the mob is so aroused that they rape her, abuse her, and at the break of day they discard her. Sunrise finds her dragging herself back to the house of the old man, the host of the night before, she collapses at the doorway of the house. The brutalizing of this woman is just the beginning of the horrors. What took place in Gibeah places Israel on the same level as Sodom and Gomorrah which were destroyed for the depravity of those two cities whose inhabitants did what was right in their own eyes.
Morning finds the Levite emerging from the host’s house to continue his journey home. The verbs used to describe what takes place reflects the Levite’s indifference to his concubine’s fate. He arose in the morning, he opened the door, he went out. This is shocking, he is not going out to look for his concubine, he is going out to continue his journey home. He slept, he arose, and he is leaving, but to his surprise when he steps outside, he finds his concubine lying in the doorway with her hands on the threshold. The mention of where the woman’s hands were are to demonstrate for us that she was reaching out for the door, reaching for the protection of her master, reaching out for the security of the host’s house, reaching—but all she could grasp was death. Collapsing there she was too weak to open the door or even knock.
At this point we see how indifferent and callous this Levite is toward his concubine, no wonder she left and returned home. This Levite acts as if nothing has occurred and commands her to get up so that they can be on their way. His command elicits no response. We see no emotion in the Levite as he picks up his concubine and puts her on a donkey and continues on his journey home. Arriving at his home in Ephraim, the Levite takes a knife and cuts his concubine into twelve pieces and sends one piece to each of the tribes in Israel. The response was nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. Consider it, take counsel, and speak up. In other words, this was a call to arms which will almost destroy the nation of Israel.
CONCLUSION:
How do we respond to this chapter, is there any thing that we can take away? I believe it raises more questions, then answers. On the surface we could say that the theme of the chapter is hospitality, the people of Gibeah’s primary defect was their inhospitality. The old man’s warning to not spend the night in the public square has an ominous ring to it especially for those of us who know the end of this event, but for the reader who has not read to the end, he is not led to expect what the old man means by saying this, certainly nothing serious, after all it is a walled city and the inhabitants are Israelites. We know what hospitality is supposed to look like as it is shown to us by the concubine’s father and the old man, and the detail given by the author when describing the care taken by these two men. With the old man the travelers are just beginning to enjoy one another’s company when evil crashes in on them.
Ethically and morally this chapter is about unrestrained lust and human depravity which is brought on by everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. In the beginning the men of Gibeah demand a homosexual expression of this lust and depravity. But when this drive is frustrated, a woman suffers rape, abuse, and murder. We learn that the rules of hospitality and family order protect only males, and where the wills of males conflict, it is quite acceptable to offer females as sacrifices in defense of male honor. Is this right, is it biblical? No! But most of what takes place in Judges is not intended to be interpreted as normal. This is what happens in a nation that turns it back on God and does evil in His eyes to do what is right in their own eyes. Responsible male leadership should have protected the females even if it meant the sacrifice of the males. What we see in this chapter is Israel becoming like the Canaanites around them. The Levite did not want to stay in Jebus because of the Canaanites living there, only to discover that Canaan had invaded his own world when he arrived in Gibeah. The people of Israel in becoming like the Canaanites committed at least four heinous crimes in this chapter, homosexuality, rape, adultery, and murder. But what was it about homosexual rape that in the eyes of the old man and the Levite made it worse than heterosexual rape? In no way does this passage reflect acceptable treatment of women by men in any context. The Scriptures are clear in their condemnation of sexual crimes by men against women. Whatever you make of the social structures of ancient Israel, by the nation’s normal standards both rape and adultery were heinous crimes. They are never acceptable forms of behavior for men or women. But why was the homosexual act viewed as worse, as the old man in our passage suggests? This can only be answered by looking at the biblical perspective on human sexuality as a whole. You must begin by affirming that the primary function of human sexuality is procreation, a means by which humans fulfill the mandate and promise of God to be fruitful. Because of this heterosexual intercourse is natural and necessary for reproduction. Since reproduction is both impossible by and irrelevant to homosexual activity, it is “against nature.” According to our Scripture reading this morning the biblical perspective of the image of God is complete when a man clings to his wife and they become “one flesh.” But this clinging is not simply to procreate, within the context of the Old Testament, since one lives on in one’s progeny, sexual activity takes on the added significance in securing one’s future. Homosexual activity thinks only of the present. A second function of sexual activity is to express intimacy and marital commitment. Beginning in Genesis 1:27-28, the Scriptures are consistent in affirming only heterosexual marriage. The intimacy described in our Scripture reading this morning is natural, good, and holy, and it remains so even after the fall. Within the context of marriage, through sexual activity a husband and wife express physical intimacy to complement their emotional and spiritual union. This form of intimacy is celebrated in Scripture as beautiful and good, but the book of Leviticus condemns this same kind of intimacy between two males calling it an abomination the same as adultery and incest, which both were capital crimes. For that reason, homosexual activity is not only “against nature”; it is a crime against God and another expression of “doing what is right in one’s own eyes.” Rape of any kind should have been vile, but for these men one was worse than the other.
What we see in this chapter is that Israel has sunk to the level of the nations whom they were commanded to destroy and on whom the judgment of God hung. Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:19-20, “It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:19–20, NASB95)[3]
What can we take away from this chapter? Pray for our nation because we have reached this same level of depravity. Persevere and hold on to the hope that we have in Christ and spur one another on to love and good deeds as we see the day approaching.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.